Television and radio personality Wendy Williams made a strong statement on March 14 during a phone appearance on The View, urging both her guardian, Sabrina Morrissey, and the judge who declared her “legally incapacitated” to “get off my neck.” Williams also declared, “I need a new guardian,” in what marks her most direct public plea to end her court-appointed guardianship, which she entered in 2022.
Williams’ guardianship has been a subject of controversy, and her recent remarks come amid reports of her being moved from an assisted living facility to a hospital earlier this month. During the View segment, Williams explained that her hospitalization was not a sign of any further cognitive decline, but rather, a need for medical attention.
“I was having a little agita,” she told the show’s hosts, referring to her brief hospitalization. “And you know, to go to the hospital… look, where I live, at that memory unit on this floor, you know, I just needed a breath of fresh air. I needed to see the doctors. So that’s why I went to the hospital.”
Williams’ words on The View highlighted her frustration with the treatment she has received under her guardianship. She made it clear that she does not agree with the diagnosis of “incapacitation” and insists that she is fully aware of her condition. “It was my choice to get an independent evaluation on my incapacitation, which I don’t have it. How dare they say I have incapacitation? I do not,” Williams said.
Her criticisms extend to the environment she’s currently living in, describing it as restrictive and not conducive to her well-being. “I am not permitted to do anything but stay on this floor. The memory unit floor, where the people are 90 and 80 and 70… why am I here? You know what I’m saying? Where people don’t remember anything. So I stay in the bedroom the majority of the time. I never go out to eat. I stay in the bedroom,” Williams explained.
Sunny Hostin, a co-host of The View, read a statement from Williams’ guardian’s lawyer, which defended the arrangement. The statement pointed out that the guardianship was issued by a judge after Williams was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a condition that can affect behavior and cognitive abilities. The lawyer also noted that Williams was receiving excellent medical care and that she had not been kept from her family.
In response, Williams fired back during the broadcast, telling her critics, “I need them to get off my neck.”
This marked the highest-profile return for Williams to the television spotlight since the conclusion of her long-running talk show, The Wendy Williams Show, in June 2022. The show had been a staple of daytime television since its debut in 2008, but Williams stepped away from hosting in 2021 after taking a leave of absence for medical reasons. Williams was dealing with complications from lymphedema and Graves’ disease at the time, both of which affected her health and ultimately led to her exit from the show.
Williams’ health struggles continued into 2024 when her team disclosed that she had been diagnosed with aphasia and FTD. Aphasia is a language disorder that impairs the ability to communicate, while frontotemporal dementia is a degenerative condition that affects personality, behavior, and cognitive function.
The court-appointed guardianship began in 2022, following concerns over Williams’ health. However, she has publicly opposed the arrangement for some time. In a January interview on The Breakfast Club, Williams said, “I feel I’m in a prison,” and described her guardian, Sabrina E. Morrissey, as “that person that you talk about who is holding me hostage.”
Earlier this week, reports surfaced that Williams had been transferred from her assisted living facility to a hospital on March 10. During a separate interview with Good Day New York, Williams denied claims that she was cognitively impaired, stating that she had passed mental competency tests with “flying colors.” Her caretaker, Gina Monterrosa, supported Williams’ assertion, saying that Williams had been “deemed she is not incapacitated.”
The ongoing saga surrounding Wendy Williams has drawn significant attention, particularly as it raises important questions about autonomy, guardianship, and the management of medical conditions. Williams’ outspokenness about her guardianship has sparked debate, with some expressing concern over her wellbeing, while others believe she should have more control over her own life and decisions.
As of now, it remains unclear what steps Williams will take next in her fight to regain control over her affairs. The issue of her guardianship is expected to continue to be a subject of legal scrutiny, as Williams seeks to regain her independence while navigating the challenges posed by her health conditions.
In the meantime, Williams’ fans and the public continue to watch closely as she takes steps to challenge the arrangement that has kept her under the supervision of a court-appointed guardian for the past few years. Whether she will succeed in regaining her autonomy remains to be seen, but her recent comments suggest she is determined to assert her rights and seek a change in her current circumstances.
